My Swing (b101)

[b101]

Another little update - the lesson today was really good and saw a lot of immediate improvement. Had trackman out which helped, but basically he looked at a lot of my alignment - my shoulders are way left which drags the low point of the swing forward resulting in a horribly low (5/6 degrees) AoA and a push slice. The instructor got me to align way right of the target (in feeling), before showing me that my 'way-right' thought, is actually dead-straight. He then got me to add a thought of swinging out and right to counter the slice and stop me coming over the top. My swing speed has actually improved to around 110 mph, so I'm definitely giving up a lot of yards out there (possibly as much as 50-60 yards of carry...!). I've got a couple of basic drills to sort the club path out (the usual of having a bucket in the way), but it was really good to get the numbers to back this all up (all below - the averages are way out as quite a few were him taking half-swings with a 6i to demonstrate alignment/path relation.

In terms of the strikes that best exemplify things, #4 is a standard good strike using my current technique, whilst #6 typifies the issues I'm having. We started tinkering after #6 and #12 was probably the best of them, even if I took a little off it. 6i from #17.

[b101]

Latest update - I've been practising the drill the instructor gave me at least a little on most days. Basically aiming to move my path more to the right (during the lesson it was 9.4 left!) by using the bucket as a good guide, whilst trying to straighten my shoulders (aiming more right than I think). It's immediately resulted in the best contact I've ever had, with most shots finding the centre of the face. In the short term, it will cause pushes or slight hooks, but I'm happy with the progress.

Unfortunately, I tweaked something in my left arm in the gym a couple of days ago so my swing is feeling a bit more lethargic than usual. Also, I know the shoulder turn is something that will require work, but I'll try to sort this out first then work on that after.

In the first video, I'm trying to feel like I'm swinging to the right, whilst in the second, I'm trying to swing straight. The instructor wanted me to continually try both and record them to check progress. I still get a bit outside on the way back in the second one, so work yet to do! The camera angle isn't perfect, either - apologies.

On a positive postscript, my new camera arrives tomorrow (records in 1080p at 60fps) so should make this process a bit easier

[b101]

Latest attempt with the driver (as of last week). I haven't played too much with the weather being very cold and me not wanting to risk my clubs any more than necessary ( see the reason why !) The below is probably the best I had - there were quite a few pushes out to the right, but it's very noticeable that my occasionally poor shoulder alignment result in the slice. I still need to sort out the AoA, as my launch is lower than I would like for the most part, but this has certainly been more consistent in terms of direction. Again, shoulder turn is a longer-term work in progress.

[boogielicious]

Latest attempt with the driver (as of last week). I haven't played too much with the weather being very cold and me not wanting to risk my clubs any more than necessary (see the reason why!) The below is probably the best I had - there were quite a few pushes out to the right, but it's very noticeable that my occasionally poor shoulder alignment result in the slice. I still need to sort out the AoA, as my launch is lower than I would like for the most part, but this has certainly been more consistent in terms of direction. Again, shoulder turn is a longer-term work in progress.

I love the slow motion sound effect!! For AoA, do you set up the driver stance the same as irons?  For me, I set up with my hips slightly pressed forward.  This changes my body angle and shaft AoA at impact.  Also, for me, working on getting the shaft to be less steep at A5 helps.  That is my priority piece.

[b101]

I love the slow motion sound effect!! For AoA, do you set up the driver stance the same as irons?  For me, I set up with my hips slightly pressed forward.  This changes my body angle and shaft AoA at impact.  Also, for me, working on getting the shaft to be less steep at A5 helps.  That is my priority piece.

Brilliant, isn't it?!

It's pretty similar, yeah - I don't make many real changes to be honest. Having heard a lot about kicking the hips forward a bit, I may try that as well to see if it helps. Thanks for the comment.

[b101]

Ok, some more video updates. Finding things a bit tougher now with a couple of changes slowly being implemented based on my recent lesson:

• Swinging more in-to-out. The flightscope data for a recent 3 wood fitting showed that's getting much better, but can go back to awful (9 degrees left-ish...) when I forget about it!
• Standing taller. The pro noticed I tend to slouch meaning it's hard to get great contact repeatedly and it throws the lie angles way off. Makes sense.
• Shoulder alignment - see point one: great until I forget about it.

After a fairly abysmal 11 holes (+11) yesterday - basically just too much going on in my head - I headed to the net this afternoon to capture a few videos with the new camera. The following are PW, 7i, 3i, 3w and Driver swings. Looking at them, I reckon my grip still needs work, ball position is often too far back and I still need to sort the AoA with the Driver as I know I'm hitting down due to feeling really uncomfortable hitting up. That said, my contact is getting much better, but the miss is now a push due to swinging a bit more in-to-out (see the 3i DTL view). That said, I can occasionally over-draw, verging on a hook if I overdo it - particularly with the driver and 3 wood, which have a draw bias.

Anyway, lots of videos - enjoy, and as ever, any feedback much appreciated.

Pitching Wedge

7 Iron

3 Iron

3 Wood

Driver

[mvmac]

Not sure if I've posted this on your thread yet but I would check your grip, would help with the wrists "collapsing" at the top of the backswing.

[b101]

Not sure if I've posted this on your thread yet but I would check your grip, would help with the wrists "collapsing" at the top of the backswing.

You hadn't, but it totally fits and was the first thing I noticed from this bunch of videos - it's a bad habit I thought I'd lost! Thanks as always, will give the thread a read to remind myself .

[b101]

@mvmac Just to check before I start trying to change this, I think the problem is in the left hand, which has too much of a palm grip, meaning I get lazy with my right hand. Would the below look better?

Thanks!

[mvmac]

@mvmac Just to check before I start trying to change this, I think the problem is in the left hand, which has too much of a palm grip, meaning I get lazy with my right hand. Would the below look better?

Yes, that looks better. You could even get the heel pad more on top, here's my left hand.

[b101]

Yes, that looks better. You could even get the heel pad more on top, here's my left hand.

Thanks - will get a-practising!

[b101]

The grip advice has really helped, based on today's round and range session. Didn't take the camera with me, but I'll get some footage next week. The slice is pretty much eliminated if I get the grip right and my AoA with the driver tended to be much better when I started getting more comfortable on the range. The final thing to help with the driver was an ever-so-slightly slower backswing with the thought of a comfortable backswing rather than my usual. Again, that's something I'll experiment with a bit more next week. As a result, over 9 holes, I went for 5 over, with 2 of those due to a snap hook on one drive (16th) resulting in a lost ball.

http://www.gamegolf.com/player/benpage101/round/192322

Still need to work on approach shots inside 100 yards as not playing much in the last month has meant my distances are way off. Also hit a bit high up the face with the tee shot on the 10th, losing a fair amount of yardage there. Otherwise, the drive on the 11th and 3 wood on the 12th were real highlights of a very good round for me.

[b101]

Played 18 this morning (+10) and the driver really shone - struggled much more with the short game in wet conditions and once I sort that out, I'll be really confident going into the Spring. It was relatively quiet, so I got a chance to video a few as well, with Game Golf picking up the pieces. The drive on the 4th would have definitely made 300 yards in the summer months, so I'm really happy with that . I still think I'm launching a bit on the low side, but I'll take the relatively straight shots and much improved consistency of strike!

Just the one really poor shot here on the tough SI 1 7th hole - pushed the shot and it found a tree, hence the 169 yards... Managed to salvage a bogey thanks to one of the only decent wedge shots of the day though.

[Abu3baid]

Nice round and swing..!

[b101]

Nice round and swing..!

Cheers - it's getting there, just taking a bit of time to get used to some of the changes with the scoring clubs.

Full round stats are here: http://www.gamegolf.com/player/benpage101/round/193498

[b101]

Hi again all,

Different problem this time - the driving is now much, much better, but I've now started hitting my irons fat. With some of the changes I've made - notably trying to swing a bit more right, I've found it far more difficult to get the right size of divot and I'm now taking huge divots. I'm still hitting ball first, but my swing seems really steep, which seems counter-intuitive given that I'm swinging right... So I made a video today and hopefully you can help me. My questions are as follows (with my guesses in brackets!):

1. Am I standing too close/far away from the ball? (I guess too close as I can occasionally have the horror hosel-shank), but I've also been advised by my instructor to stand more upright...)
2. Ball position looks too far back to me - would you agree?
3. How do I get my swing a bit shallower? I attempted to work on the shoulder turn, and think this may have actually made things worse!
4. Divot position is fine - in front of the ball.

Thanks, as ever :)

[mvmac]

Hi again all,

Different problem this time - the driving is now much, much better, but I've now started hitting my irons fat. With some of the changes I've made - notably trying to swing a bit more right, I've found it far more difficult to get the right size of divot and I'm now taking huge divots. I'm still hitting ball first, but my swing seems really steep, which seems counter-intuitive given that I'm swinging right... So I made a video today and hopefully you can help me. My questions are as follows (with my guesses in brackets!):

Am I standing too close/far away from the ball? (I guess too close as I can occasionally have the horror hosel-shank), but I've also been advised by my instructor to stand more upright...)

Ball position looks too far back to me - would you agree?

How do I get my swing a bit shallower? I attempted to work on the shoulder turn, and think this may have actually made things worse!

Thanks, as ever :)

1. Looks fine to me.

2. Maybe a little, it's a pitching wedge so middle is ok.

3. You swing the handle down and left. From the top of the backswing, fire the arms down as you keep the head steady and push the hips forward.

Good drill for you to exaggerate the feel.

[b101]

1. Looks fine to me.

2. Maybe a little, it's a pitching wedge so middle is ok.

3. You swing the handle down and left. From the top of the backswing, fire the arms down as you keep the head steady and push the hips forward.

Good drill for you to exaggerate the feel.

Thanks as ever @mvmac t all a go and report back!